• Boxscore & Play-by-Play

SEATTLE – Jamar Berry scored four of his game-high 19 points inside the final two minutes Friday, leading 24th-ranked Central Washington to a 56-52 win over Grand Canyon on the first day of the SPU Invitational men's basketball tournament at Brougham Pavilion.

The undefeated Wildcats (6-0) claimed a 51-49 edge on a 3-pointer by Berry with 1:49 left to play.

Grand Canyon (2-4) answered with a 3-pointer by Brad Carroll at 1:20 that provided a 52-51 advantage. That was the final lead of the night for the Antelopes as CWU scored the final five points of the game, starting with Jody Johnson's 12-foot jumper with 44 seconds remaining.

Chris Sprinker converted two free throws with just under five seconds left and Berry made the second of two at 0:03 to secure the win.

Berry was the only double-figure scorer for the Wildcats, who got nine points from Sprinker.

CWU won despite shooting just 33 percent (19 of 57) from the floor and 4 of 15 from 3-point range.

The Antelopes shot 47 percent (21 of 45) and were 6 of 16 on treys. They were outscored by 10 points at the free throw line as Central shot 14 of 21 and GCU was 4 of 11 on charity shots.

Kyle Speed was the lone Antelope in double figures with 17 points.

In the first half, GCU built a 25-19 advantage before the Wildcats scored the last seven points of the period. Chris Scott nailed a 3-pointer with three seconds remaining to give CWU a 26-25 halftime margin.

Both teams remain in Seattle for the second day of the SPU Invitational. Central Washington will play No. 23 Chaminade at 5 p.m. on Saturday, and Grand Canyon will face off with host Seattle Pacific at 7 p.m.


NCAA Men's Basketball
SPU Invitational
Friday, Dec. 3, 2010
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.

CENTRAL WASHINGTON 56, GRAND CANYON 52

CENTRAL WASHINGTON (6-0)
Berry 7-15 3-5 19; Sprinker 3-9 3-4 9; Johnson 2-5 4-4 8; Gibler 2-4 3-3 7; Harris 2-9 0-1 5; Scott 1-5 1-2 4; Perez 1-8 0-0 2; Clyde 1-2 0-0 2; Leiser 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 19-57 14-21 56.

GRAND CANYON (2-4)
Carroll 6-11 3-4 17; Ngoundjo 4-4 1-1 9; Speed 4-8 0-0 9; Morin 2-7 0-2 6; Johnson 2-5 0-0 4; Wesolowski 1-4 0-4 3; Robbins 1-2 0-0 2; Wynn 1-2 0-0 2; Tchatchoua 0-1 0-0 0; Pickrel 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-45 4-11 52.

Halftime -- CWU 26, GCU 25.

3-point goals--CWU 4-15 (Berry 2-3; Harris 1-4; Scott 1-4; Perez 0-4), GCU 6-16 (Morin 2-6; Carroll 2-5; Wesolowski 1-1; Speed 1-3; Pickrel 0-1). Fouled out--CWU-None, GCU-None. Rebounds--CWU 36 (Johnson 5; Gibler 5; Clyde 5), GCU 32 (Wesolowski 7). Assists--CWU 7 (Berry 2; Scott 2), GCU 14 (Speed 5). Total fouls--CWU 16, GCU 21. Technical fouls--CWU-Berry, GCU-Johnson. Att.-144.